1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bending tool for a guide post used to form a template for locating a dental implant hole (osteotomy) in a patient's jawbone and methods related thereto.
2. Description of Related Art
To determine the appropriate location for drilling a hole in a patient's jawbone to insert an endosteal root form implant in a patient's mandible or maxilla, a dentist or oral surgeon typically creates a dental cast of the patient's jaw and creates a template from the cast to guide the drill when performing an osteotomy.
More specifically, a dental cast impression of a patient's mandible and/or maxilla, including the edentulous space is created. A hole is drilled into the dental cast approximately in the location and orientation of the hole corresponding to a desired location of the dental implant osteotomy is estimated. Then a guide post is inserted into the hole and a sleeve is attached to the guide post. A template-forming molding material is applied to a portion of the dental cast and to a portion of an outer surface of the sleeve and allowed to cure. Once cured, the template is removed from the dental cast and placed in the patient's jaw in order to guide a drill for planning the endosteal root form implant.
A problem, however, is that the location and orientation of the osteotomy may need to be adjusted to correctly align the osteotomy with the alveolar bone and other anatomic structures, such as the roots of the adjacent teeth nerves, and sinuses. It is important to accurately locate the osteotomy in the jawbone so that the implant is sufficiently anchored in the bone structure.
It is known in dental surgery to make a dental cast impression of the patient's mandible and/or maxilla in order to design or select the appropriate prosthetic device. Moreover, it is known to use the diagnostic tooth set-up or wax-up on a cast to determine a desirable tooth position in the final restoration. In locating and creating the hole for a dental implant, however, the most commonly used methods involve estimating the appropriate position of the implant, drilling a hole in a dental cast at an estimated location and orientation to form a template and drilling an osteotomy in a patient's jaw at the same location and orientation.
What is needed then is a method and apparatus for accurately, inexpensively, and conveniently locating an osteotomy for an endosteal root form implant in the mandible and/or maxilla of a patient using a template having an accurately aligned sleeve.